


Hardened Heart

by somethingsintheair



Category: Ninja Sex Party - Fandom, TWRP | Tupper Ware Remix Party (Band)
Genre: Gen, TWBB 2017, Time Travel, character death of the complicated time travel variety, mild violence, one instance of nondescript gore, unintentional parallels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-08 20:11:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12872115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somethingsintheair/pseuds/somethingsintheair
Summary: What happens when two idiots travel through time and pick up four more idiots? Some deep shit, that’s what. Adventure, heartbreaking discoveries, and time travel related disasters follow these interstellar rockstars as they begin to acclimate themselves to a new life together.Written for the TWRP Big Bang.





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> id like to thank all of my friends and the participants of the big bang, especially lee for beta reading this and adding some questionable yet entertaining comments

Doctor Sung awoke with the side of his face pressed against cold cement. The first thing he saw was the blurry outline of his worktable. And as he waited for his vision to focus, he became increasingly aware of his condition. He was shivering. Everything ached. A dull, constant tone rang in his ears, like a distant siren.

He spent quite a bit of time lying there on his stomach, just letting his body and brain catch up to each other. When he felt a little more steady, he rolled himself over to lie on his back.

“Fuck.”

He’d survived it. He’d come back. 

As he looked around the room, he rubbed his cheek where it’d been pressed against the floor. His workshop looked pretty much the same, so he couldn’t have been out for too long. Not that time mattered anymore, really.

With a heavy sigh, he pushed himself to sit up. He groaned at the headrush that immediately followed, and once that subsided, he started to assess the damage. His cheek hurt, as well as his ribs, likely from the pressure of lying on a hard floor. He was sure he had a few bruises by then. Other than that, he just had a general achy feeling that he couldn’t think clearly enough to pinpoint. Nothing that he could mend. It would just be a matter of waiting.

“Some _defense mechanism,”_ he mumbled as he forced himself up. He took a few unsteady steps towards his worktable, and leaned against it for support. “There’s no reason for me to _be_ here.”

Who was he talking to? No one could hear him, there was no one left. He was fully aware of that, but what else was he supposed to do? Loneliness wasn’t the sort of thing to kill someone like him permanently, he was far too strong for that. He would always come back, whether he wanted to or not. He absolutely resented that fact, but that didn’t mean he could spend all eternity wallowing in self-pity. He was far too smart for that.

He just had to think of something to do.

He let out another deep sigh as his eyes wandered across his worktable. Of course he’d left it a mess. Didn’t even bother to tidy the place up before he died. 

“Spacecraft,” he muttered. Maybe he could go somewhere? His species may have met its tragic end, but that didn’t mean the rest of the time and space wasn’t still around. There had to be something else out there that he could occupy his time with.

“Time… time?” He started to sift through the mess of papers in front of him. He knew there was something, something he’d been working on, something that could get him to a better place. His lip twitched in a hint of a smile when he pulled out just what he’d been looking for: blueprints. They weren’t nearly complete, but with enough work, he knew he could piece something together. He basically had all eternity to do so, after all.

Doctor Sung set out for the streets, carrying along with him a small stack of blueprints and hopeful attitude. There was no way he was going to fly a big ass spaceship on his own, but he knew there was one particular element of the vessel he could make use of: the time machine. It wasn’t a single object, per se-- more of a complex series of wires and devices that had been worked into the ship.

And he found a way to work it into his armor.

One might question the dangers of keeping a homemade time machine strapped to one’s chest, but at this point, Sung really didn’t have much to lose. If it worked, it worked. If it didn’t… well. It didn’t. He had no idea how long it took. For all he knew it could’ve been days, _weeks_ later. The absence of other life forms could really warp one’s perception of time.

Back in his workshop, he was just about ready to test out his new creation (but not before he placed his helmet in its rightful place on his head). He considered the possibilities as he fiddled with the controls he’d wired into his arm guards.

Where to go? How many years away?

It… didn’t really matter, did it?

With a resigned shrug, he dialed a random series of numbers.


	2. Dino Fun Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you very much to the lovely and wonderful sperus, whose accompanying art to this fic can be found [here!](https://sperus-art.tumblr.com/post/168153145591/so-heres-my-little-companion-piece-for-the)

“Hey.” Danny knocked on the side of his spaceship. “Wanna go fuck some dinosaurs?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Brian gave a thumbs up in reply.

“Alright, sweet.” Danny beamed. “Let’s go.”

With an enthusiastic little jump, he entered the ship he claimed to have expertly crafted in about ten minutes’ time. It was much better than their first model, at least, which was made mostly from a toaster and gave him a pretty painful electric shock upon powering on. Also, this one looked way cooler, so it won by default.

The inside of the ship was pretty minimalistic, not much for decoration yet-- of course, Danny planned on getting to that at some point soon. The interior was a medium blue, with red stripes and accents in various places along the walls. The front of the ship held the main console-- a complex array of dials and buttons with six cushioned seats lined up in pairs behind it.

“We can totally figure out how to pilot this thing, right?” Danny asked.

Brian nodded. Absolutely, he totally knew what he was doing. In his centuries of ninja training, he was almost sure he’d also taken at least half a class in piloting such futuristic devices. He forgot pretty much everything he’d learned, given, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try. He’d built the thing entirely by himself, after all.

“Fuck yeah, let’s get a move on!” Danny cheered as he claimed the pilot’s seat. He hit the floor mere moments later when Brian dropkicked him right out of there and took his place. “Right, yeah… cool,” Danny slurred while he stumbled his way into the passenger’s seat instead. “I was jus’ warming it up for you, anyway.”

Brian rolled his eyes before he started up the ship. The engine roared to life, and with a press of a big red button, they were off. The force of the takeoff was enough to send them both flying back in their seats, and only then did Danny think to buckle his seatbelt.

“Uh, okay, how does 150 million years back sound?” Danny shouted over the roar of the engine, fingers hovering over one of the display screens by his side. Brian was too focused on piloting the ship to reply or care much, so Danny just picked a date.

The time jump was rough, but the landing was rougher. No one, not even the greatest ninja/pilot there was, would have been able to keep that ship under control. Danny took the full force of the hit. He let out an unattractive screeching noise as he jerked forward, then his seatbelt yanked him back into his seat. Brian, on the other hand, wasn’t one to admit defeat. He remained absolutely calm as they crashed right smack into the dinosaur age.

“God dude, what the _fuck,”_ Danny groaned, rubbing his chest where the seatbelt had dug into it. They had definitely crashed into something-- just out the front window, which was newly cracked, lay the remains of what appeared to be some sort of building. “Goddamn. Did we even get the right time?” he unbuckled his seatbelt and started stumbling towards the door. “Who’s around here to build stuff?”

_Maybe others have crashed._

Danny jumped ever so slightly when Brian’s voice echoed in his head. That jump had really thrown him off. “Oh… yeah. Maybe.” He went for the ship’s door and, still a bit woozy from the impact, started to survey the area. They were definitely in what appeared to be some variation of a Jurassic period, at least what he’d believed it to look like. Dirt, rocks, some plant life. No dinosaurs, though, or signs thereof-- which he was almost a little thankful for. When he looked out further, however, he did see something out of the ordinary. Not a dinosaur, but in fact, a person-shaped figure. Just a few hundred feet away. It appeared to be dragging something along the ground. Danny was about to step out of the ship and investigate further when the figure spoke.

“Wh-- Dude! What the fuck?”

Danny’s eyes widened, and he jumped again when Brian materialized directly beside him. They both watched as the figure made his way closer-- clad in a tight yellow bodysuit, black armor, and an orange… cone-shaped helmet with a visor that covered his eyes. Behind him, he was pulling along what looked like some kind of robot.

“That couldn’t have been worse timing, holy shit,” the person continued, after he’d stopped a safe distance away from them. “I mean, I guess it could’ve been a little worse, like… if you’d landed on _me_ or something, but still. That was my workshop! I just redecorated other day!”

Danny blinked. He was absolutely baffled. “Uh… sorry?” he said. “I mean, I wasn’t the one who was driving, but, you know. This guy’s not gonna apologize for anything any time soon.” He gestured towards Brian, who had taken to staring the yellow-suited cone man directly in the face (visor). “But I think we’re lost. We’re, uh… time travelers. Could you tell me where we are?”

“Oh! We’re right in the middle of the Mesozoic era,” came the reply, with a bright smile that greatly contrasted his previous expression. “Planet Earth. Can’t be too sure, but… hm. Maybe somewhere around what’s later known as Utah?”

“Utah?” Danny turned to face Brian. “Is that what you were going for?”

Brian shrugged. He hadn’t been aiming for anywhere in particular, but he wasn’t about to disclose that information. Not in front of this yellow twit.

“Well, either way, I’m definitely going to need a new place to carry out my work,” the man said. Danny realized he was much closer now, and couldn’t think clearly enough to stop him as he pushed past the both of them to get into the ship. “Do you have a toolbox?”

“Tool… box?” Danny furrowed his brow as he watched the man drag the robot carelessly behind him. “Sorry, who are you?”

The man gasped and spun around on his heels. “Oh! I’m Doctor Sung, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He still had a big smile on his face, despite how… unnaturally pale he looked. He extended a gloved hand towards Danny, which Danny shook with caution. He couldn’t help but notice the way the doctor’s hand was trembling just slightly.

“And this guy?” Doctor Sung continued with a nod towards the robot. “Um… haven’t figured that out yet. Not sure if he has a name. Just picked him up. How about yourselves?”

“I’m… Danny,” he answered. “And, uh, this is Brian. Probably shouldn’t try to shake his hand.”

Doctor Sung paused, his hand mid-air, and pulled back to give Brian a respectful nod instead. “Fair enough. Toolbox?”

“Right. Uh...” Danny took a moment to search around, under the seats, in the overhead compartments, everywhere he could think of. He finally found what he was looking for-- a bright red toolbox-- in one of the compartments on the wall, and passed it over to Sung. “What are you... doing, exactly?”

“Oh, I’m gonna fix this little guy.” He gestured towards the robot on the floor, who was most certainly not little. “I’ll just need a moment.”

“Sure, sure, I’ll just, um...” Danny glanced to his side, where Brian was already staring right at him.

_I don’t like him._

Danny cleared his throat. Oh boy. “Here, let’s… if you don’t mind, uh, Doctor, we’re going to step outside for a sec.”

Doctor Sung looked up from where he was now crouched down on the floor, and gave Danny a little nod. “Of course. Take your time.”

Danny muttered some awkward parting words before he led Brian outside-- Brian promptly slammed the door behind them and gave Danny an expectant look, his arms crossed.

“Alright... what is it?” Danny asked. “What do you not like about him?”

_He’s so upbeat, it’s sickening. If I didn’t have so much self control I would have kicked his ass by now._

“Come on, man. You know that’s not a good reason.” Danny scoffed. “I’m pretty upbeat, and we’re best friends!”

_Debatable._ Brian glanced at the door. _He’s too eccentric. I don’t trust him._

“Listen.” Danny stepped forward and put an arm over Brian’s shoulder, which Brian promptly shoved away. “Listen. If things get bad, we can take him. He’s small. And he looks like a strong guy, sure, but have you really gotten a look at him? He’s all… pale and shaky. I think he might be sick or something.”

_So?_

“So, if he does happen to be some sort of murderer, I doubt he could do much damage.” Danny shrugged. “But he seems nice enough so far. We should help him.”

_And what if whatever he has is contagious?_

Danny raised his eyebrows. “Dude, have either of us ever gotten sick? _Ever?”_

Reluctantly, Brian opened the door to the ship and stepped back inside. Doctor Sung was still on the floor, sitting with his legs crossed and his back to the door. He seemed to be too focused on digging through the robot’s chest to notice the others’ entrance.

“Find anything good?” Danny asked, which caused Sung to jump in surprise.

“Oh! Well... I have reason to believe he had a heart,” Sung answered, “Key word, ‘had.’ But he sure doesn’t now, and I’m guessing that’s the main issue here.”

“Is it a cyborg?” Danny inquired. He stepped forward to get a better look, but immediately stepped back when he realized just how graphic the scene before him was. He saw _red,_ a lot of it, and that was more than enough for him.

“Seems like it.” Doctor Sung paused, and let out a little hum before he stood. “I’m going to go look for something.” With that, he was heading off towards the back room.

Danny blinked, still not fully recovered from what he’d seen-- and now it was right in front of him again, completely unobstructed. The breastplate of the robot’s armor had been pulled off to expose a hollow chest cavity, lined with what appeared to be no more than blood and muscle. Whatever innards it had left were in very poor condition, nearly ripped to shreds. He could see some of the mechanical component, but… no, were those wires or arteries?

_Danny?_

A crash from the other room followed Brian’s voice, and Danny finally realized that Doctor Sung was gone. Danny rushed towards the other room, only to run right into the doctor in question.

“Oh! Terribly sorry,” Doctor Sung said with a chuckle. He was clutching something to his chest, a machine of sorts. “Tell me, do you have any use for this?” He held it up, and it took Danny a second to recognize it as one of the old drum machines they kept around for… one reason or another. _Did_ they use them?

“Uh… hey, Brian?” Danny called.

_It’s ancient. He can take it._

That left the two of them to watch on as Doctor Sung fiddled with tools, wires, and various other parts that looked a little too organic for Danny’s comfort. It was quite impressive, actually, despite how often he had to look away. By the time Doctor Sung replaced the plate on the cyborg’s chest, Danny was considerably nauseous, and Brian… well. Brian was secretly impressed.

“Sweet,” Sung said, a grin on his face as he stood once again. “Didn’t think I could pull that off.”

“Me neither,” Danny muttered, looking a little pale himself. “Now what?”

Sung shrugged. “Now… we wait? I guess?”

And so, they waited. Thirty seconds passed. Then, a minute. Then two.

Danny, always one for awkward small talk, was the first to speak up. “So, what are you, uh… what are you doing around here, anyway, Doctor Sung?” he asked, “Is there anyone else here?”

“Hm?” Sung glanced over his shoulder. “Uh, not as far as I know,” he replied, “But I haven’t been here for too long. I, ah… crash landed, like you did. I’m pretty sure my time machine is beyond repair.”

“Shit, dude, that sucks,” Danny said. “You wanna come along with--” He grunted when Brian delivered a swift elbow to his side. “Ow, _what?”_

“Oh, I’d love to!” Sung answered, either oblivious to the interruption or simply choosing to ignore it. “I’m on a mission, it’d be very helpful if I could get out of here. Where were you headed?”

“Us?” Danny asked. “Oh, we just… I mean. We just came back here to try to fuck some dinosaurs, honestly.”

There was a long, long pause, in which Sung just… stared. Confused. “I would… advise against that,” he said.

Blushing, Danny cleared his throat. He glanced past Sung, towards the cyborg. “So, does he… does he have, like, a _switch,_ or--”

Everyone, even Brian jumped when the cyborg’s red eyes flickered on. They heard a brief, ominous chime, and the three of them shared some bewildered glances.

“Wasn’t that, like… a Windows error noise?” Danny asked.

Sung stared down at the cyborg, his arms folded against his chest. “Huh. Yeah, it was.”

Then, it moved. Slowly, tentatively shifting into a sitting position. The ship was silent.

The voice that broke the quiet spell was a monotone, synthetic one.

“REQUESTING INFORMATION.”

Silence again. The cyborg seemed to be trying to burn a hole in Danny’s face with his gaze.

“WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU.”

“Wh… me?” Danny asked, a shaky hand on his chest.

“AFFIRMATIVE.”

“I’m… Danny. Danny Sexbang.”

“THAT IS AN ABHORRENT NAME.” Swiftly, the cyborg turned to Brian. He stared right at him for what was probably an inappropriate amount of time before he continued. “YOU NEXT.”

“Oh, that’s… that’s Ninja Brian,” Danny added, still slightly offended by that other comment. “He’s not very talkative.”

The cyborg’s eyes flickered. “SILENT. INCONSPICUOUS. I APPROVE.” He turned to Sung. “YOU.”

“Me? I’m Doctor Sung,” Sung introduced, rather proud of himself. “I brought you back!”

“BROUGHT ME BACK.” The cyborg tilted his head. “FROM WHERE.”

“Well, you were… you were kinda dead back there,” Sung answered, “But I was able to rework your cardiovascular system with a shiny new heart, and you seem to be working okay now.”

The cyborg put a hand to his chest, as if to see if he could feel the drum machine thrumming away. “WHY.”

“Because you looked cool! Plus, I needed something to do.” Sung shrugged. “Havve Hogan, is that your name?” Red eyes flickered at him. Sung smiled. “It’s engraved in your bracer.”

The cyborg lifted his arm to look. Sure enough, the letters were etched into the metal bracer. “SO IT IS.” He nodded. “HAVVE HOGAN.”

“Sweet!“ Sung spun around to face the others, practically bouncing with excitement. “Can we take him with us? Please?”

Danny chuckled and looked to Brian for an answer.

_No._

“Of course!”


	3. New Friends

After some tinkering with the ship on Doctor Sung’s part, they were able to get everything up and running again. While everything powered on, Sung turned around to find Brian and Havve Hogan in what appeared to be some sort of staring contest. And from the looks of it, no one was going to be winning or losing anytime soon.

“Hey, I... think we’re all set,” Sung said, and both heads whipped around to face him.

Danny, who had previously been dozing off in one of the seats, stood up with sluggish movements. “Sweet,” he said, arms stretching over his head. “Where to?”

“Where… to?” Sung shrugged. “I didn’t think it was up to me.“

“Like I said, man. We’re not headed anywhere in particular.” Danny gestured towards the console. “Just give Brian some directions, put in some coordinates or whatever, and we can go anywhere you want.”

Right on cue, Brian sat down in the front seat. Sung took a glance over his shoulder before he started fiddling with the controls to set a location. He wasn’t really headed anywhere specific to begin with. Where to, indeed?

“Oh, yeah, Doctor Sung?” Danny called. Sung kept his focus on the controls, but gave a nod of acknowledgement, so Danny continued. “You didn’t really tell us why you were here, just that you crashed. Where were you headed before?”

“Where? Well… hm.” Sung hesitated before he continued. “I suppose it was less about a location, and more about a goal. Like I said, I’m on a mission.”

“A mission,” Danny echoed. “That sounds pretty cool.”

“Kind of. I’m trying to... avenge someone-- a lot of people.” Doctor Sung stood up straight again and gave Brian a pat on the shoulder, which only earned him a glare. “Right, well. We’re good to go.”

“You’re… _avenging_ someone?” Danny asked, “Who--”

“Considering how well you guys landed last time, might I recommend a seatbelt?” Sung asked as he took the seat next to Brian. He was eager to move on from both their location and the current topic of conversation.

Danny, awfully confused and considerably more doubtful of this guy than before, took the seat just behind Brian. As he buckled his seatbelt he looked back towards Havve Hogan, who had been watching on silently. “You coming, man?”

A pause. “I SUPPOSE I DO NOT HAVE MUCH OF A CHOICE,” Havve replied before he sat down next to Danny.

The takeoff was reasonably rough, considering the fact that they were coming out of a pile of what used to be Doctor Sung’s workshop. Danny held on tight to the edges of his seat while Brian, as per usual, was unaffected. For a moment, things were smooth-- until the time jump, that is. The light that shone through the windshield was blinding, but only last a few seconds before all four of them lurched forward in their seats. A variety of groans and curses filled the ship when they landed, mostly from Danny.

“Did we crash _again?”_ Danny asked, still trying to catch his breath.

“It seems we’ve… hit another structure,” Sung commented, equally out of breath. 

“Again?” Danny was just glad to have someone else around who reacted to things-- unlike Brian, who was still staring forward. But Danny followed his gaze, and sure enough, the very front of the ship had crashed right into a wall. “Oh, great.”

“A durable ship you’ve got here, I have to say.” Doctor Sung unbuckled his seatbelt and headed for the door. “I suppose all we can do now is hope the owner of this establishment is as friendly as myself.” He looked back at his new cyborg friend. “Havve, you’ve got my back, right?”

Havve paused before he got out of his seat and took his place behind Sung. “I WILL KILL WITHOUT MERCY.”

“Whoa, okay, maybe not that far,” Sung said with a chuckle. ”Just keep an eye out for anything weird, okay?”

Another pause. Then, a nod. “I CAN ALSO DO THAT.”

“Good.” Sung pushed the door open, and was immediately greeted by… quite a strange sight. They were on a ship, he could tell that much. Well, _in_ a ship, technically. That was the first thing he noticed. The second thing he noticed was a pair of creatures locked in a fierce battle. It was hard to tell exactly what they were at first-- all he could see was a blur of black and red-- until one of them pinned the other to the ground.

The man on the bottom was some sort of humanoid lion creature, wearing a black and blue suit as well as some armor. “Hey! Someone crashed into my fuckin’ ship, can you stop tryin’ to kill me for, like, five seconds?” he growled. His armor didn’t do shit for defense against a swift punch to the face that came from the creature in red.

With another growl, the lion man pounced on his opponent, and the brawl continued.

Slowly, Sung turned around to face the interior of Danny and Brian’s ship. The one other inhabitant of the ship that showed emotion looked just about as baffled as Sung felt.

“Uh… any ideas?” the doctor asked.

Without hesitation, Brian shoved past Sung to get to the door and pulled out a blowgun. He blew two darts, and the creatures hit the floor almost instantly.

“I THOUGHT WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO MURDER,” Havve said, his gaze trained on a horrified Doctor Sung.

“No, no, they’re not dead!” Danny chimed in. “They’ll come back in a little while!” Nonetheless, Doctor Sung rushed out of the ship to get a better look. Both creatures had small darts stuck in their necks, but from what he could tell, they were still alive. With a heavy sigh, he hooked his arms underneath the lion man’s.

“Are we... taking them with us?” Danny asked, taking a few cautious steps forward.

“Well, we did fuck up their ship pretty bad,” Sung answered, “It would only be polite. Would you grab the other guy?”

Danny nodded before he rushed to retrieve the man in red. His helmet and his armor were clunky and awkward, but Danny managed to drag him into the ship after Sung. “What, uh… what do we do if they wake up and still wanna kill each other?”

“Ah… mediate, I suppose?” Doctor Sung put the lion man in a seat and crouched down in front of him. “If that doesn’t work, I’m sure your ninja friend here can just knock them out again until we have a better solution.”

“Guess so.” Danny shrugged. Cautiously, he placed the other man down in the seat beside the lion. “Have you seen anything like these guys before?”

“Well… this one looks vaguely familiar,” Sung said with a nod towards the lion. “As a species, I mean, not an individual. I’m sure I’ve seen one or two of his kind before.”

“Huh.” Danny looked at the man in red. “And the other guy?”

Sung chewed on his bottom lip as he observed the other creature. The only feature that really stood out was the blue-green skin of his hands-- just about everything else was covered by clothing or armor. “Well. If there’s even a chance he’s what I suspect he might be, it’s probably not the best idea to take off his helmet and confirm.”

Danny frowned. “What do you mean?”

“It’s probably keeping him alive, is what I’m saying.” Sung reached over to pull the dart out of the blue-green man’s neck. “So don’t take it off.”

“...Oh. Okay.“

Both of them jumped when the ship’s engine powered on. Brian was sitting in the front seat again, impatient as always.

“You gonna try to back us out, man?” Danny asked. Brian nodded.

“We should… buckle them in,” Sung said. “They don’t need any further damage.”

It was a good thing he suggested that, because once they got going, things were pretty bumpy. It wasn’t a simple task, backing a spaceship out of another spaceship. However, it didn’t take Brian too long to accomplish, and soon they were taking off again.

“Well done, my man,” Danny said, although he was still a little hesitant to stand from his seat. “Where to now?”

“Well, based on their species, I’d place us at around… the mid 70th century?” Sung stood as well, and leaned over to get a better look at the lion man. “He doesn’t seem to be--” He let out a yelp and jumped back when the man’s eyes opened.

Panicked eyes shot around the room as the lion tugged on his seatbelt. “Fuck, fuck, what’s happening?” he asked. When he saw the unconscious man strapped in next to him, the panic only worsened. “Oh, fuck. Come on, guys, you can’t do this to me, I-I didn’t mean it, I-” He let out a growl as Brian (who seemed to appear from thin air) removed the dart from his neck.

“Hey, hey... chill,” Danny soothed. “No one here’s gonna hurt you.” 

That only seemed to escalate the lion’s distress. _“He_ is!” He pointed at the man in the gold helmet. “I-I fucked up. I… I fucked up and he’s gonna kill me!”

“Well, he certainly won’t be doing so on our watch.” Doctor Sung unfastened the seatbelt, and the lion seemed to relax just slightly. “I’m Doctor Sung. This is Danny, Brian, and Havve Hogan,” Sung said with a gesture towards his new friends.

There was a moment’s hesitation as the lion’s gaze shifted between the four of them. “Meouch,” he answered, “Commander Meouch.” Having overcome the initial shock of the moment, he reached for his neck. “Am I bleeding?”

Sung glanced down towards where the dart had been removed. Surprisingly, he saw nothing. “Nope, you’re good. Not a mark in sight.” He smiled. “So. Who’s the other guy?”

Meouch seemed awfully uncomfortable as he looked over at the ‘other guy’ in question. “Uh… that’s Lord Phobos,” he said. “He oversees Sector 8. Or… _oversaw,_ I guess.”

Danny raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I mean... I fucked up, big time.” Meouch paused. “Like… planet-wide disaster levels of fucked up. Everyone else is dead.”

“Wh… pardon?” Sung asked.

“I dunno, it’s all kind of a blur.” Meouch shook his head. “But he can’t blame it all on me, right? I was just playing a show, how was I s’posed to know a little funk could kill so many people?”

“You… you killed them with _funk?”_ Danny asked. “That’s… kinda badass, man.” The grin on his face dropped with the look he got from Meouch. He cleared his throat. ”I-I mean, uh...”

Before Danny could finish his sentence, Lord Phobos shifted in his seat. Everyone was still, watching him as he sat up straight. Paused. Looked around.

When he saw Meouch, he unbuckled his seatbelt and pounced.

The chaos was immediate. Brian was the first to take action and grabbed Phobos, who was kicking and swinging his fists in Meouch’s direction but hadn't quite reached him. Meouch was cowering in fear, clinging on to Danny’s arm with his claws out. Reasonably, Danny was crying out in pain, while Sung was trying his hardest to remove the Commander’s claws from his skin.

All while Havve Hogan watched on in wonder.

It took a few minutes to get everyone (mostly Phobos) to settle down. Danny was holding his newly-injured arm, Meouch was apologizing profusely from the opposite side of the room, and Havve was still just… watching.

That left Sung and Brian to deal with Phobos, who had been restrained in Brian’s firm grip.

“Listen,” Sung began, “I don’t know the Commander all too well. But I don’t think there’s really any need to kill him. Especially not on this nice, clean ship we’ve got here.” He gestured around them. “Look at this, not a blood stain in sight.”

Phobos only huffed in response. They could hear it from his respirator. Sung just kept talking.

“I know he did you wrong, I know he probably deserves some form of punishment. But, I promise you, murder is _not_ the answer.” Sung folded his hands together. “I think you two need to talk. Can you do that for me?”

Silence.

“Can you... speak at all?” Sung asked. He hadn’t thought about that before.

Phobos shook his head.

“Oh. Well, that might make things… considerably more difficult.” Sung paused. “That’s fine, that’s fine. I’ll talk,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Based on your vehement intent to murder, anyone could assume this guy wronged you quite a bit, yes?”

Phobos nodded.

“And sure, what he did was... yeah, kind of a dick move. But, hey, I’m sure he feels bad about it, at least a little bit. He seems like a decent guy. Wouldn’t you agree?”

A long, quiet stare from Lord Phobos. Then, a laugh from Danny on the other side of the room. “Hey, c’mon, man, that’s not nice,” he said.

Sung whipped his head around. “What?”

“Phobos. He called you a ‘pylon-headed dipshit.’”

Sung turned back to face Phobos. “He _what?”_

“I can hear him, like I can hear Brian,” Danny said. After a moment, he added, “He said he can’t talk to you.”

Sung let out a long, exasperated sigh. “Okay… okay. We can work this out.”

Once Danny got his arm to stop bleeding, Meouch was thrown out of the room, and Havve was set to the task of managing the ship’s course, Phobos was ready to communicate. Or, at least, that’s what Danny had told Sung.

“So you just want me to tell you what he tells me?” Danny asked. “Don’t you think things are gonna get a little… lost in translation?”

“Well, if you have a better way to go about this, I’m all ears,” Sung replied. “Otherwise, this is all we have. He doesn’t seem to be able to communicate with me directly-- that, or he just doesn’t _want_ to.” He shot Phobos a look, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor and leaning against the wall. Brian was no longer holding onto him, but was still on guard close by.

Doctor Sung forced his expression into a friendly smile as he sat down in front of Phobos. Phobos crossed his arms, seeming almost indifferent-- although it was difficult to read his expression with a dark visor covering his eyes. There was a beat of silence while they both stared at each other from behind their masks before Sung spoke.

“Will you tell me what happened?” he asked.

Another pause, longer this time. Then, “He said Meouch destroyed his planet.”

“Yes, well. We gathered that much,” Doctor Sung said. His gaze didn’t drift from Phobos’s visor. “The Commander said it was… funk, yes?”

Phobos nodded.

“He says his species is vulnerable to funk,” Danny said. “He knew it would have an effect, but he didn’t know it would kill them.”

“So... they’re really dead?” Sung asked. His face fell into a much more somber expression. “Everyone?”

Another nod. “As far as he could tell,” Danny said.

“Holy shit, I...” Sung shook his head. “I’m so sorry. How did you survive, then?”

Phobos tapped on his helmet.

“Your helmet? That protected you?” Sung asked. Hesitantly, he reached towards it. “May I?”

Phobos jumped. “Uh, just don’t take it off,” Danny delivered the message from Phobos rather quickly.

“Of course, of course.” Sung put his hands on the helmet then, and turned Phobos’s head gently to get a better look. “Where did you get this?”

“It was a gift.” Danny paused. “He also said… uh. Something, something, ‘back the fuck off.’”

“Oh. Sorry.” Sung pulled his hands back and cleared his throat. “Well, I think it’s time we address our biggest problem at hand here. Are you going to hurt the Commander?”

“He-- oh. Uh, wow, okay,” Danny mumbled. “Uh. Yeah, he wants him dead.”

“Oh, wonderful,” Sung sighed. “Well, we can’t have you two leaving the ship like that, now can we?”

“He said… he’s never going to forgive him,” Danny said. Phobos looked considerably more distressed at that point, his hands clenched into fists. “He… oh. Okay, um, that’s a lot.”

“What is it, what’s he saying?” Sung asked, still staring down Phobos’s visor.

“He’s… he’s angry,” Danny said. “I can’t… I’m not really getting it all. But he’s definitely angry.”

Sung rolled his eyes. “Well, I figured _that--”_ He let out a yelp when Phobos made a dive at him. Luckily, Brian grabbed Phobos just before they made contact. “Whoa, whoa!” Sung exclaimed as he scooted backward. “Alright. Okay. This is a terrible way to communicate, this isn’t gonna work.”

Sung was quiet for a moment as he watched Lord Phobos struggle against Brian’s hold. He was no match for Brian, of course, but the threat of being attacked by someone still made Sung apprehensive. He had to diffuse the situation somehow.

“Danny,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“I need you to step out for a moment.”

Danny blinked. “What?”

“Just for a moment, don’t worry. You can… ah. Make conversation with the Commander, I’m sure.”

Danny quirked an eyebrow as he glanced between the other three, but stepped towards the back room nonetheless. “Well… alright.”

* * *

The back of the ship was meant to be a bedroom of sorts, but it had very quickly turned into storage. A variety of boxes and loose gadgets were piled on two bunkbeds, one of which Danny found Meouch pouting on. The lion didn’t even glance up when Danny sat down on the bed across from him.

“So,” Danny began.

Meouch lifted his head. “So what?” he hissed.

“S-so… uh. You killed some people,” Danny said, “And I’m guessing that feels kinda shitty.” Meouch shot him a glare, then looked back down towards the floor. Danny tried again. “I mean, if it’s any consolation, my buddy Brian has probably killed _way_ more people than that in his lifetime.”

Meouch’s ear twitched. He lifted his gaze again. “It’s not.”

“Well… okay. Understandable.” Danny sighed. “I guess… I dunno. After thousands of years of watching your best friend brutally murder people, you get a little desensitized.”

Meouch lifted his head again, and gave Danny a strange look. “You look awfully human to be thousands of years old.”

“That’s not the point here,” Danny said. He preferred not to think too much about that. “Are you gonna be okay, man?”

Meouch ran a hand through his mane. He seemed to be getting a little tired of this conversation. “If I’m gonna be honest here, I’m more concerned about the other guy,” he said with a nod towards the door. “You know, since… everyone he cares about is fuckin’ dead. I’m guessing that kinda takes a toll on someone.”

Danny nodded, slowly. Thoughtfully. “Yeah… yeah,” he said, “Yeah. Okay, I’m not super surprised he was trying to kill you.”

“Oh, thanks, that really helps,” Meouch muttered with a roll of his eyes. “Like I said, I didn’t do nothin’ on purpose. I was trying to entertain them, not _kill_ them.”

“Well… you fucked up there, man.”

Meouch scoffed. “You don’t say.” He crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. After that, there was a quiet spell between them. Not uncomfortable, necessarily, more… gloomy.

“You think he’ll be alright?” Meouch asked.

“I don’t know. I think Doctor Sung was trying to work something out, but...” Danny looked towards the door. The ship was eerily silent. “I don’t know. He sent me out of the room.”

“Doctor Sung, that’s… the cone guy, right?” Meouch asked. “He’s shady. I don’t trust him.”

“Shady?” Danny echoed. Brian had said something similar. Was Danny too trusting, or were the others just too cautious? “He seems pretty nice to me.”

Meouch scoffed. “You can be the most charismatic guy on this side of the galaxy, that don’t mean you’re trustworthy,” he said. “Why do you think he sent you out of there? He’s probably doing somethin’ to Lord Phobos.”

“I don’t think he’d hurt him,” Danny mumbled, but stood from the bed regardless. “And Brian’s there, he wouldn’t…” He paused when he remembered Brian’s morals were basically a no-man’s land. “Do you think we should check?”

Without answering, Meouch stood up and pulled the door open. Right on the other side stood Doctor Sung himself, arm raised as if he was about to knock. He greeted them with a warm smile.

“Oh, hello!” He dropped his arm to his side. “I was about to come in and let you know that Lord Phobos is… ah. Stable.”

“He’s… stable?” Danny asked.

“The fuck did you do to him?” Meouch asked, much more harshly.

“Relax, relax, he’s not hurt,” Sung assured as Meouch shoved past him. His gaze followed the Commander carefully as he added, “He’s… quite the opposite, actually.”

Meouch stopped in his tracks where Phobos was still propped up against the wall, his body now limp and lifeless. “The fuck does that mean?” he asked, whipping his head back around to face Sung.

Sung folded his hands together. “It means I wiped his memory of the incident.”

The ship went dead silent.

Danny cleared his throat. “I… I’m sorry?”

“All his memories of Sector 8’s destruction are gone,” Sung explained. “All he knows is that we found him and took him in.”

“What?!” Meouch shouted. “Why the fuck would you do somethin’ like that?”

“I-- so he wouldn’t _kill_ you, Commander.” Sung was starting to sound irritated. “I did it so he wouldn’t kill you.”

“Well what the hell am I s’posed to do, then?” Meouch asked. He only seemed to be getting more agitated. “How can I look him in the eye-- fuckin’-- _visor,_ whatever-- how can I do that knowing I killed everyone he ever knew, and he doesn’t even remember it?”

“Well.” Sung paused. Tilted his head to the side. “I never said I couldn’t do the same to you.”

 _“Excuse_ me?”

“I could wipe your memory,” Sung stated-- casually, as if he was just offering a glass of water. “You wouldn’t be able to recall the incident in the slightest. I’d replace the memory with some unrelated incident that would’ve required a rescue, so we can justify our current situation. And you could live guilt-free.”

The Commander was quiet. The look on his face was… confused. Concerned. Afraid.

“You can… do that?” Danny asked. “Just like that?”

“Just like that.” Sung snapped his fingers. “That’s all I did to Lord Phobos. As far as his brain knows, we just picked him up with a bit of amnesia. And when he wakes up again, he’ll be just fine.” He gave Meouch a patient smile. “You look a little frightened. Need some time to think about it?”

Meouch crossed his arms. His nose twitched. “Yeah.”

“Okay! That’s completely fine.” Sung nodded, then rested a hand on Danny’s arm. “Daniel. How do you feel about heading towards the 21st century?”

“Wh-- uh, yeah, man, I don’t see why not,” Danny replied. “That’s where me and Brian were living. What did you have in mind?”

“I think the six of us could make a great team to carry out my mission,” Sung began. He lifted Phobos off the floor and walked towards the console, where Brian was sitting.

“Your… mission?”

Sung took a moment to strap Phobos into a seat before he spoke again. “Yes. I want to help the humans. I have reason to believe they have a grim future ahead of them. A _boring_ future. And I want to fix that.”

Danny raised an eyebrow. “And how do you plan on doing that?”

“Well.” The doctor put an arm over Danny’s shoulder. It was incredibly awkward, since Sung’s natural height barely reached Danny’s collarbone, but he made it work. “You’re a musician, right?”

Danny nodded. “Me and Brian play sometimes.”

Sung grinned and squeezed Danny’s shoulder. “Right, so am I. And so are Meouch and Phobos.”

Meouch put a hand up. “Wait, how did you know--”

“And I have reason to believe that our friend Havve Hogan, with his new and improved cardiovascular system, could make one hell of a drummer.“ He gestured towards the cyborg in question, who tilted his head up at the mention of his name.

“WHAT.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Sung gave Danny a pat on the back. “Are you in, Mr. Sexbang?”

“I mean… I-I don’t...” Danny trailed off, looking to Brian for help. A full band did sound pretty fucking cool, and going back home sounded even cooler. They’d been away for less than 24 hours, but he was eager to return to civilization. A murderous ninja, albeit his very best friend, could only provide so much in terms of company.

_I don’t think we have much of a choice right now. We can see how this goes._

Brian’s input surprised Danny-- he’d expected the idea to be quickly rejected. But if Brian, of all people, approved of something… he knew it had to be worth a shot.

“Yeah… yeah, alright,” Danny responded, which earned a wide grin from Doctor Sung. “Ninja Brian, set a course for the 21st century!”


	4. New Home

The landing wasn’t nearly as bad as the last two, but it was still pretty terrible. This time, only Brian and Phobos were buckled in; everyone else went flying. Doctor Sung’s helmet slammed into Danny’s chest, Meouch’s elbow dug into Sung’s side, Havve’s foot collided with Meouch’s head, and they all landed in one uncomfortable heap of boy. A series of muttered curses came from said heap as everyone began to stand. Brian was laughing silently to himself all the while.

“Hey, shut the fuck up,” Danny mumbled, rubbing his chest where he’d been cone-slapped. “That hurt.” Brian kept laughing anyway.

“Ah… deeply sorry about that.” Sung stood, a bit unsteady as he adjusted his helmet. “Is everyone okay?”

Meouch stood, rubbing the side of his head where Havve’s foot had hit. “Fine,” he grumbled.

“Good.” Sung straightened his helmet. “Where are we?”

“Uh, we should be at our place,” Danny said as he tried to look outside. The windshield was already pretty fucked from their last two collisions-- no wonder Brian couldn’t land properly. 

Danny pushed the door open and stepped outside to see their home in all its glory. It was a simple little house, painted pastel blue. That’s really the main reason they’d picked it out. That, and the fact that Brian had killed the previous owner.

“Here, come on in.” Danny gestured the rest of the group towards the house. “I hope everything hasn’t gone to shit, we should’ve technically only been gone a few minutes.” He opened the front door. “Make yourself at home.”

The inside of the house was just as quaint and cozy as the outside. They were in a small living room with two adjacent loveseats in front of a TV. The walls were decorated with an odd combination of landscape paintings and band posters. A pair of open archways led into what looked like the kitchen. To the left of that was a hallway that led to a few other rooms.

It didn’t take long for everyone to settle down. Danny and Meouch carried an unconscious Phobos inside and set him down on one of the couches. Brian placed an inconspicuous tarp over the time machine/space ship so as not to arouse any suspicion from the neighbors. Havve took a seat out on the back porch by himself. Sung claimed one of the spare rooms down the hall and shut himself inside. 

Danny and Meouch were the only ones who bothered to socialize. They stayed in the living room, mostly to keep an eye on Phobos. Danny sat down on the other couch beside Phobos, while Meouch stood indecisively in the center of the room. 

“So… Doc Sung said you were a musician,” Danny began. “What do you play?”

“Yeah, how the fuck did he know that again?” Meouch asked.

Danny just shrugged. “He seems to know a lot about a lot of things.”

“I still don’t trust him,” Meouch mumbled, shaking his head. “But what does it even matter at this point, huh? I play bass.”

Danny’s face lit up. “Really? Me too!” He thought about that for a second, then let out a little laugh. “I mean… well, I _have_ a bass. In my room. I don’t really know what I’m doing yet, though.”

“Maybe I can teach you a thing or two sometime,” Meouch said with a shrug. “I mean, I like to think I’m pretty good at what I d--” His eyes widened when he saw movement from the other couch. “Shit, he’s waking up.”

“What?” Danny turned his head and, sure enough, Phobos was starting to sit up. They couldn’t see any sort of expression through his visor, but he was visibly shaking.

“H-hey, man, it’s okay.” Danny put his hands up in an attempt to show that he meant no harm. “You’re safe here, no one’s gonna hurt you.“

Meouch just stood there, arms crossed, slightly terrified. When Danny jumped in surprise, so did he. “Danny? You good?”

“Uh, he’s talking to me again,” Danny said. “Sorry. Startled me.” He turned back to Phobos with a gentle smile. “I’m Danny, this is Commander Meouch. We, uh… well, us and our friends, we picked you up.”

Phobos tilted his head to the side.

“We’re on Earth,” Danny continued. “There’s nothing to worry about, so just… take some time to settle down. That’s all we’re doing right now.”

Meouch was surprised by how calm Danny was, while he himself felt like he’d been punched straight in the gut. Lord Phobos was completely unaware of the death of his entire civilization, and by extension, the fact that it had been caused solely by the man standing right in front of him. It was enough to make Meouch sick.

“Okay, that’s fine.” Danny’s voice pulled Meouch right out of his thoughts. “Don’t get lost.” Phobos nodded before he stood up and made his way out of the room. Not even his footsteps made a sound.

Meouch waited until he was completely gone before he spoke. “What was that?” 

“He just said he’s gonna head outside,” Danny answered. “I like him. He seems… gentle.”

“Uh… huh.” Meouch nodded. “I think I’m gonna... go find a room or something. This is a lot to handle, and I’m just kinda...”

“Yeah, no, I get it,” Danny said with a sympathetic smile. “Take your time, man. My room’s free, just down the hall. The door should be open.”

“Yeah, okay, thanks.” Meouch turned the corner down the hall, but ignored the room with the open door. Instead, he made his way down towards the room Doctor Sung had taken residence in.

After he built up some courage, Meouch gave the door a gentle knock. “Hey… uh, Doctor? Can I come in?”

“If you must,” replied an agitated voice, slightly muffled by the door.

When Meouch pushed the door open, he wasn’t expecting to see Doctor Sung sitting on the floor. But he was right in the center of the room, legs held tight against his chest.

“You… you doing okay?”

“Fine, fine,” Sung replied. Meouch noticed he was rocking back and forth ever so slightly. “Decompressing.”

“What?”

“It’s a lot of, um… a lot of stuff. A lot take in.” Doctor Sung nodded. “And I… wasn’t doing so hot to begin with. But I’ll be just fine, I just need some time to… adapt. That’s all.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course. I can leave you to that.” Meouch shifted his weight, almost moving to leave, but lingered in the doorway. “But… uh. Can I ask you a question first?”

“You just did,” Sung answered. “But I’ll allow another.”

Meouch couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he stepped further into the room, then closed the door behind him. “That, uh… that thing you did to Phobos. The memory wipe, or whatever.”

Sung stopped rocking. “Yes?”

“How’d you do it?”

Sung paused to lift his head. He was facing the adjacent wall, so Meouch could only see his side. “It’s… a trait in my species,” he said. “I can do a lot to people’s heads.”

Well. That made the guy sound even creepier than Meouch had previously thought possible. “Yeah?” he asked. “Like what?”

Sung turned his head. Looked right at him, through his visor. “Like altering memories, Commander.”

“Alright, got that one.” Meouch nodded, but his ear twitched in irritation. “What does it feel like? Does it hurt?”

Sung shook his head. “From what I’ve heard, it’s… pretty calming,” he said. “Once I can dispel any initial anxiety, of course, but that’s easy enough.”

“Uh huh.” Meouch crossed his arms. “Did Phobos agree to this?”

Sung turned back to face the wall. “Yes. I told him I was helping.” He paused. “But I don’t know if I’d call it… informed consent, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Oh.” Meouch sighed. “Great.”

Sung looked at him again. “Are you still considering?”

Meouch uncrossed his arms, and just barely stepped forward. Almost. Instead, he turned towards the door. “No. I’ll be fine.” With that, he opened the door and left.

The rest of the house was quiet. Everyone else was off doing their own thing, adjusting in their own way. Havve was sitting quietly on the back deck, while Phobos had taken it upon himself to start cleaning up the neglected garden. Brian was off… somewhere, and Danny had presumably turned in early.

Meouch wasn’t sure why he went out the back door, but once he saw Phobos, he planned on hauling ass back inside. Unfortunately, Phobos caught sight of him before he could do that, and greeted him with a little wave.

“Yeah, uh, hi,” Meouch muttered, waving back. Phobos held up two handfuls of weeds, and Meouch whistled. “Looks like a hell of a mess back here,” he said as he stepped off the deck and into the yard.

Phobos nodded and tossed the weeds into a nearby wheelbarrow. Briefly, Meouch wondered where he’d found it. “You gonna plant stuff here?” Meouch asked. Phobos shrugged.

Meouch looked back towards the house, then at the mess of a garden. “Do you… want some help?” he offered.

Phobos gave him an enthusiastic nod. Soon, they were both working hard to pull weeds from the soil. It wasn’t too difficult of a task, it just took a while. By the time the garden was clear, the sun was down and the only real light came from the eyes of the cyborg on the porch.

When Meouch realized how dark it was, he jumped up from his crouched position. “Oh, shit, can you see?” he asked.

Phobos stood as well, and gave Meouch a questioning tilt of his head.

“I mean, I got… pretty decent night vision, so,” Meouch said, “I’m good here, but I wasn’t sure if you...”

After a moment, Phobos pointed to his visor and nodded.

“Okay, good,” Meouch said with a little nod. “We’ve been out here for a while, anyway, should we just… head in?”

Phobos nodded again, and they both headed for the door. As they passed by Havve Hogan on the way in, Meouch paused. “Hey, man,” he said. “You coming in?”

Havve’s head turned to face Meouch, and he took his time standing up before he replied. “YES. I SUPPOSE THAT WOULD BE BEST.”

When they got inside, Havve assumed a similar sitting position on one of the couches, and Phobos followed close behind to lie down on the other one. Meouch was about to head down the hall in the hopes of finding a free bed when he bumped right into Danny.

“Oh, hey, I was looking for you,” Danny said. He held up a blue bass that he seemed to retrieve out of thin air. “Do you think we could go over some bass stuff?”

“Uh… everyone’s going to bed, man,” Meouch said.

“Quietly,” Danny added.

Meouch thought it over before he shrugged. Maybe he could score a bed out of the deal. “Alright,” he said, and followed Danny down the hall.

* * *

Brian didn’t sleep all that much in general, but when he did, he did _not_ like to be interrupted. Therefore, when he felt something shaking his shoulder in his sleep, he shot up with full intent to commit a gruesome murder. Within milliseconds he had the offender’s wrist in an iron grip, and he could feel their pulse racing through their sleeve. Tired and sufficiently irritated, Brian reached over to turn his bedside lamp on. He froze at the sight before him.

It was Havve Hogan. The robot.

_Relax. It’s just me._

Brian jerked his hand away when the voice-- his _own voice--_ came through to his mind.

_I come from the year 8029, and I’ve made some poor decisions that I intend to fix._

Brian stood from his bed in order to stand eye-to-eye with Havve. _What kind of poor decisions?_

_Danny is dead. I was desperate. I didn’t know what else to do._

Brian crossed his arms. He wasn’t going to believe that shit for a second. _What are you talking about?_

_I’ve come back to tell you not to do the same things I have. Stay the way you are._

Brian frowned behind his mask. His irritation was gradually turning into concern. _I don’t understand. You’re here with us. The drummer._

 _That’s you._ Havve pointed at Brian’s chest. _Us._

 _You were dead._ Brian paused. _Doctor Sung replaced your heart._

Havve shook his head. Brian watched with just a hint of apprehension as Havve reached for his chestplate and popped it off. He pulled it aside to reveal a distinctly human heart. A real, working organ, pumping blood through a complex network of arteries and veins in his chest cavity.

_He replaced our heart. In my future, he resurrects me and takes away what little humanity I have left. That’s the Havve Hogan you know._

For a moment, all Brian could do was stare. When Havve finally replaced the plate, Brian looked back up at his face. _Why are you here?_

_You and I are stuck in an endless loop of bad decisions. And I want you to fix it._


	5. Shit Goes Downhill

Meouch found Phobos making breakfast pretty early in the morning. Well… he appeared to be _trying,_ anyway, if the random ingredients strewn about the kitchen said anything. Meouch couldn’t help the little laugh he let out when Phobos pulled out a large block of cheese and slammed it down onto the counter.

“You, uh… do you cook much?” Meouch asked.

Phobos spun around to face Meouch, shook his head, then spun back around to return to his work.

“Well… neither do I.” Meouch shrugged before he directed his attention to the fridge. “Guess I can’t criticize you much.”

“Morning, guys.” Meouch looked up as Danny made himself known in the doorway, clad in pajama pants and a worn out T-shirt. He eyed Phobos, who seemed really focused on unwrapping that block of cheese. “What are you up to there, buddy?”

“He’s making breakfast,” Meouch answered. “Let him be.”

Danny shrugged. “Fair enough. Have you guys seen Doctor Sung yet?”

Meouch made a face as he opened one of the cabinets. “Not since yesterday afternoon.” He grabbed a glass. “Wasn’t lookin’ too hot.”

“Right. I’m gonna go… check on him, then,” Danny said, “Make sure everything’s okay.” He kept a relaxed smile on his face until he turned and went back down the hall. One knock on Sung’s door without an answer only worsened his already present concern. “Hey… Doctor Sung?” 

Another knock with no response. Danny let out a sigh. This was his house, wasn’t it? He had a right to enter whatever room he pleased.

Upon opening the door, the first thing he noticed was the writing on the walls. Equations, timelines, and scientific jargon he couldn’t even begin to understand had been scrawled across almost the entirety of the wall to his right. About halfway down the adjacent wall was Doctor Sung with a permanent marker, writing out some sort of calculation.

“Hey, uh… Doctor?”

Sung turned around like a deer caught in headlights. He was trembling, far more than he had been when they’d first met. “Where’s Havve?” he asked, a tone of urgency in his voice that only worried Danny more.

“Havve? I, uh… I thought I saw him in Brian’s room--”

“DOCTOR.”

Danny jumped and let out a startled yelp. As if on cue, Havve had appeared behind him in the doorway.

“THE NINJA HAS SHARED SOME CONCERNING INFORMATION.”

“What?” Sung asked, his voice laced with fear, “What is it?”

“HE CLAIMS I COME FROM THE DISTANT FUTURE.”

“W-well… well, of course you did,” Sung stuttered. “You’re a robot. There was no modern technology in that era, unless from a time traveler.”

“HE CLAIMS THAT I AM HIM. FROM THE DISTANT FUTURE.” Havve paused. “THAT HE WAS VISITED BY ANOTHER VERSION OF HIMSELF. OURSELF.”

“He… he _what?”_ Sung turned towards the wall to start looking over his work.

“HE CLAIMS THAT WE ARE THE SAME PERSON. I DO NOT BELIEVE HIM.”

Sung cursed under his breath as he started writing again, crossing things out and replacing them with other, more complicated things. All while Danny watched on, still a bit jumpy from Havve’s abrupt appearance.

“Wh… what’s going on?” Danny asked.

“Exactly what I was afraid of,” Sung mumbled, just loud enough for Danny to hear. Then, with his voice wavering, he asked, “Where’s Brian?”

“Brian?” Danny echoed. “You’re not gonna get much information out of him, Doctor, he’s not exactly--” His voice cut out with another yelp when Sung slammed his fist on the wall.

_“Where’s Brian?”_ he snapped. The room went silent.

“I WILL RETRIEVE HIM,” Havve said before he walked out of the room.

Danny was considerably more shaken up than before as he watched Sung run his fingers along the wall, along a timeline he’d drawn out. It was quiet again, for a moment.

“No...” Sung shook his head. “No. That doesn’t make any sense.”

Carefully, Danny closed the door behind him. He took a couple steps towards Sung, who now had his head in his hands. “Hey… Doctor Sung?”

“It doesn’t make _sense!”_ With an irritated groan, he tore his helmet off and tossed it to the side. He wasn’t too far behind himself, dropping down into a shaking heap on the floor.

At first, all Danny could do was stare. What he could see of Doctor Sung’s face was distinctly… human, despite his pointy ears. Much different than what he’d expected. “Doctor?”

“No, no, _no!”_ Sung cried, fingers running through his hair. “It wasn’t supposed to go this way, I-I-I… it wasn’t supposed to be a problem, I was… I was supposed to be saving people!”

After a deep, careful breath, Danny crouched down in front of Sung. “Hey… Sung,” he nearly whispered. “Look at me. It’s okay.”

Sung shook his head. His whole body trembled with heavy sobs.

“Just… say something, man. Please. I don’t know what’s going on.” Danny sat down cross-legged, since he knew he might be there for a while. “What’s wrong?”

Sung pulled his knees tighter to his chest, mostly for a place to hide his face. “It’s… it’s stress,” he answered. “Shock. It’s killing me.”

“Well, we can work through that,” Danny said as he rested a tentative hand on Sung’s back. “I’ve dealt with a lot of stress in the past, too, I know what it’s like. Do you wanna talk about it?”

Sung shook his head. “N-no, Danny, I mean… I mean it’s _literally_ killing me. I’m going to die soon.”

“You… what?”

Sung let out an audible sigh before he lifted his head to make eye contact. Danny flinched back at the jarring sight of Sung’s eyes-- the irises were distinctly red, with visible bits of black swirling around within them. The tears in his eyes only seemed to accentuate the colors, and something about them made it hard for Danny to look away.

“H… holy shit, man.”

After a moment, Sung buried his face back in his knees. “Sorry.”

“Do you… do they always look like that?” Danny asked.

“Only when I’m… you know.” Sung shrugged. “Dying.”

_“Dying.”_

“It’s stress. We’ve been over this.” Sung wiped his eyes with the back of his glove. “My body is… particularly vulnerable to negative emotions. I shouldn’t have let them build up for so long.”

“You’re saying bad feelings can… can _kill_ you? Like, for real?”

Sung nodded. “That’s what happened, Danny. That’s…” He sighed. “That’s how they all went.”

Danny gulped. He knew it wasn’t a good time for him to cry, but he was finding it increasingly difficult not to. “Who??”

“My species.” Sung’s voice was just above a whisper now. “It was boredom that got them, mostly. And you can’t… you don’t spring back from that. Not like anything else. I was the only one who made it.” He shivered. “I’m… I’m alone.”

There was a long pause between them, an almost peaceful silence laced with Sung’s soft sobbing. Hesitantly, carefully, Danny moved in closer. “You’re not alone, Doc.” He placed a hand on the back of Sung’s head and guided it to rest against his chest. “Not here. Not anymore.”

When Brain entered the spare room, he wasn’t expecting to see Danny holding Doctor Sung in a gentle embrace. But at this point, he never really knew what to expect with Danny, so he didn’t think much of it. It took Sung a second to notice Brian’s presence, but when he did, he reached for his helmet and jumped to his feet.

“Brian!” he exclaimed. “Just who I wanted to see. Close the door.” He grabbed his marker and turned back to the wall. “Can you talk to me?”

Brian closed the door. _Yes._

“Excellent.” Sung tapped his marker on the wall. “Okay. We’re going to work this out.”

Danny skimmed over the writing where the marker was. It was a timeline. Sung’s handwriting was nearly illegible, but Danny swore he could make out the phrase ‘Dino Fun Time’ at the start. “What is… what is _this,_ exactly?” he asked.

“From what I’ve learned, it’s safe to say that Havve Hogan and Ninja Brian are technically the same person,” Sung said. “Right?” 

_Yes. Allegedly, he became a cyborg after Danny died in his time._

“Oh.” Sung turned around and looked at Danny, his brow furrowed with concern. “I’m… sorry.” 

Danny just gave him a blank stare. “What? Did I say something?” 

“No, you...” Sung’s gaze darted towards Brian, who gave him a very deliberate look. “Nothing, nevermind.” He turned back around to face his timeline. “So Brian… future Brian, after becoming the cyborg, Havve Hogan, regretted that decision and tried to come back to convince you not to do what he did?” 

_Yes._

“Hold up, Brian, you really became a cyborg?” Danny asked. “Holy shit. Why would you wanna change _that?”_

"There’s an infinite number of reasons why someone would regret something like that,” Sung said. “But that’s not important right now. What’s important is that we stop him.” 

“Stop him?” Danny frowned. “What’s he gonna do?” 

“He’s trying to mess with the course of time.” Sung pointed to the timeline. “He’s trying to alter the past to change the future. But… what happened, happened. And in order to prevent a paradox, we need to take action.” 

“Take… action?” 

Sung nodded. “If we want to keep our timeline in order here, we have to make sure future Brian gets where he needs to be. Where I found him initially.” 

Danny, still baffled, glanced back towards Brian for some sort of clarification. But Brian kept his head down. “Wh… what do you mean?” Danny asked. “Where did you find him?” 

Sung breathed out a heavy sigh. “Dead in a cave, Danny.” 


	6. Shit Goes Even More Downhill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know that warning about the nondescript gore? yeah that happens here. as i said, it's not terribly explicit, but it might be sort of jarring, so here's another warning.

They didn’t do much to prepare for their departure, mostly because they weren’t quite sure how to. They only had a vague idea of where to go, but Sung assured them that he’d figure it out, that he always did.

He didn’t want to tell Meouch, Phobos, or Havve exactly what was going on, but he at least had the decency to tell them they were leaving. They were all in the living room. Havve had the TV on, surfing through the channels while Phobos noodled on an acoustic guitar and Meouch watched him.

“Hey, guys,” Sung greeted. “Myself, Danny, and Brian need to run some errands. In… the future. We’ll be back.”

Meouch was the only one to stop what he was doing and look concerned. “Everything alright?”

“Yep! Just, ah… tying up some loose ends.” Sung smiled. ”No need to worry. I’ll see you guys later!” His exit was hasty, so the others followed close by. Once they were out of the house and out of earshot, Danny caught up to Sung.

“You’re… not gonna tell Havve?” Danny asked.

Sung shook his head, his gaze focused forward. “This isn’t something he needs to see.”

* * *

All three of them were reasonably nervous, but of course, Brian wasn’t going to show it. He kept himself busy at the console, setting a time and place for them to land. Once everyone was buckled in, Brian took off.

They were growing more accustomed to the time jumps-- even Brian almost landed smoothly this time. Danny and Sung took a moment to recover before they stood from their seats to look outside. Danny leaned over Brian’s shoulder to get a better look out the windshield. They hadn’t bothered to clean it off after the last couple trips, so it was hard to see much, but he could definitely tell was looking at… their house?

“We’re back?” he asked.

Brian shook his head. _We’re in the right year._

“Man. You think more would’ve changed in… what?” Danny frowned. “Six thousand years?”

“Most humans have long since colonized elsewhere by this time,” Sung explained as he stood from his seat. “Didn’t take much with them when they left. It would make sense that the Earth might look somewhat similar.”

“Huh.” Danny opened the door and stuck his head out. With a much clearer view, he could definitely spot some obvious differences in the building. Large planks of wood had been nailed onto random places, messily painted over a different shade of blue than the rest of the house. A few windows had been boarded over, and the front door had been replaced with what looked like one of the doors from inside.

“So… what, can we just barge in?” Danny asked.

Sung shrugged. “It’s your house.”

And so, they did just that. The house was just as messy on the inside as it was on the outside. The carpet had been torn up, leaving only rotting wood as flooring. The couches, different couches than they had before, looked old and beat up. The walls were littered with holes, some patched over and some not. Only one or two of their decorations remained.

“Hello?” Sung called out. “Anyone in here?”

No response.

“What would even happen if I met my future self?” Danny asked in a hushed tone. “Wouldn’t that make some kinda paradox?”

“Oh, I… don’t think that’s something we need to worry about,” Sung said with a nervous chuckle and a dismissive wave of his hand. He walked off to look through the rest of the house, while Danny and Brian had a moment to take it all in.

“We really stuck around here for six thousand years, huh?” Danny asked. “That’s wild.”

Slowly, Brian nodded. He was focusing in on one of the cracks in the wall; he couldn’t quite bring himself to look anywhere else.

Danny turned to Brian with a smile on his face. “You think we’ll still be friends after another six thousand?”

Before Brian could even react, Sung came back down the hallway. “I didn’t see anyone else,” he reported. “Just more… debris. You guys really should’ve just moved the next galaxy over with everyone else.”

“Well, hey, we’ve got some time to think about it now, right?” Danny shrugged. “But where else would we find Havve-- er... Brian? Cyber-Brian?”

Sung nodded. “I like Cyber-Brian.” He started his way out of the house as he continued, “I’m not sure where he’d be, but I do have an idea of how we might be able to find out.” He led them out onto the porch and pointed to the steps. “Brian, take a seat.”

Brian just looked at him.

“Do you wanna save our asses or not? Sit down.”

Grudgingly, Brian sat down on the top step of the porch. Sung took a knee in front of him and, to Brian’s surprise, removed his helmet. The first thing Danny noticed was that Sung’s eyes were no longer red, and instead a much calmer shade of blue.

“Now,” Sung began, “I know this requires… a certain level of trust, which you may or may not have for me. But unless you’d like to go chasing your future self all over the universe, this is all we’ve got.”

Brian crossed his arms.

“I’m going to see if I can scan your brain for some sort of psychic link.” Sung paused. “To, ah… to Cyber-Brian.”

Brian narrowed his eyes. _Sounds fake._

“That’s because it is. But it’s a much nicer way of saying I’m going to dig through your memories until I can find a lead. Does that sound good?” He analyzed Brian’s cold, unblinking stare for a moment before he smiled. “Great. Onward, then.” Carefully, he took Brian’s face in his hands.

“That’s not gonna… hurt him, is it?” Danny asked.

“Of course not,” Sung replied. “But… keep quiet, I need to concentrate.”

Danny nodded, although he was still chewing on his lip as he watched… whatever the hell was going on there. Sung’s eyes were glowing faintly as he and Brian participated in what was probably the world’s second most intense staring contest (the first being between Brian and Havve Hogan upon their first meeting). The only sounds around them were occasional ‘hm’s and ‘ah’s from the doctor. His brow was furrowed in concentration, although Danny noticed that at some point he’d started looking… offended, almost.

Slowly, the glow of Sung’s eyes dimmed, and he dropped his hands from Brian’s face. “You knew all along.”

Danny frowned. “What?”

“He didn’t just give you a year, he gave a very specific time and place,” Sung continues, still looking at Brian. “Why didn’t you tell us that to begin with?”

Brian just stared back at him. But from their locked gaze alone, Sung was picking up on some of his emotions. Anger, sadness… guilt? Definitely guilt.

“Let’s just… go. We have work to do.” Sung spoke quietly as he turned to head back towards the ship.

* * *

After another, much shorter jump, Danny was still pretty lost as to what was going on. His confusion only grew when he opened the door and saw where they’d landed-- a short path in front of him led to rows and rows of gravestones.

“What are we doing here?” Danny turned to face the others. “Who died?”

Neither Brian nor Sung answered, simply exchanging a glance before they started to walk down the path. Now with a decent amount of anxiety on top of his confusion, Danny reluctantly followed.

He could see a figure in the distance, and only when they got closer did their identity become apparent. Havve Hogan was standing with his back to them, facing a headstone. Without a thought, Danny rushed forward, ignoring the others’ non-verbal protests. He wanted some goddamn answers.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he got close enough to read the name carved into the stone. “What the fuck--” he choked out before Brian yanked him back and clamped a hand over his mouth.

But it was too late.

Havve whipped around to face them and lunged right at Doctor Sung. Sung was lucky he had good reflexes, and managed to keep Havve’s hands from crushing his windpipe. “Okay, come on, we gotta do this!” he called as he held the cyborg’s wrists mere centimeters away from his neck.

Danny was too freaked out to even react. Brian was torn between helping Sung and comforting Danny.

“That’s… that’s my name,” Danny said. He was shaking.

“Brian, help me out here!” Sung yelled. He was starting to sound just a little bit panicked.

“Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?!” Danny cried.

In a last-minute decision, Brian went for Havve. Once he’d wrestled the cyborg’s hands away from Sung’s neck, he grabbed Danny’s arm and the three of them booked it back towards the ship. Havve, absolutely enraged, followed close behind. He chased them all the way down the path through the graveyard, and right into their ship.

“Close the doors!” Sung called before he slid right into in the pilot’s seat and scrambled to work the controls. Brian slammed his fist down on a button, and the doors slid shut the moment Havve thought to turn back.

At first, Havve almost looked panicked, bright red eyes darting around the ship. The only sound heard was the ship powering on.

“...Brian?”

Brian turned his head at the sound of his name. But Danny wasn’t looking at him. He was looking at Havve.

“You’re still Brian, right?” Danny took a step forward. “My best friend?”

For a moment, Havve just stared. No expression to read. Just an emotionless, unmoving face.

“Brian? It’s… it’s Danny.”

There was a very distinct feeling that came with being attacked mere milliseconds before a time jump, and it certainly wasn’t something Danny would ever want to experience again-- even though he could barely process what was happening. He knew he’d been slammed into the wall of the ship, because he felt the aftershocks of the pain in his back. He knew Brian had tried to intervene at some point, because even with the way his head was spinning, Danny could just barely make out those cold, blue eyes.

On second thought, maybe it was the impact of his head hitting the wall that had him so disoriented.

Not soon after, he heard muffled speech. Yelling. “Now! We’re here!” It was Sung.

Danny came to just in time to see Brian open the doors again. A gust of wind whipped through the interior of the ship.

“Are… are we still in the air?” Danny choked out, tugging uselessly at Havve’s wrist. The cyborg still had him pinned to the wall with a hand on his throat.

“Get him out of here!” Sung shouted, still occupied with the ship’s controls.

“Wh-- what?” Danny asked. “What do you mean?”

“Throw him out!” Sung called, his tone considerably more urgent. “It’s the only way this’ll all work out! Just push him!”

_“What?_ I’m not gonna _kill_ my--” Danny gagged when the hand around his neck tightened.

“It has to be done, Danny!” Sung kept glancing over his shoulder as he fumbled with the console. “He’s not Brian anymore, he’s a machine!”

With what little energy he had left, all Danny could do was shake his head. He was finding it harder and harder to catch his breath. His mouth moved in the shape of Brian’s name, but he didn’t have the air to get out anything more than a hoarse squeak. His vision was starting to go fuzzy.

Suddenly, the pressure was gone. Danny crumpled into a heap on the ground.

Brian used an iron grip on Havve’s neck to drag him towards the doors. For a moment, he just held him there, as if he was waiting. As if he was hesitating. But Ninja Brian didn’t hesitate. No, he was just thinking. Contemplating. And when he came to a decision, he reached forward and tore Havve’s chestplate off. He didn’t even look back as it flew out the door of the ship.

Danny, who was still catching his breath, looked up just in time to see something he knew he shouldn’t have. A beating heart. Just there, out in the open. Arteries and all. Pounding away like a drum.

That is, until Brian reached in and tore it out with his bare hand.

With an effortless shove, Havve’s body went flying out the doors. Brian closed them as fast as he could, and was visibly shaking as he turned around to face Danny. The man was staring at him with wide, terrified eyes, his face as pale as a ghost. He didn’t say anything. He just stared at the organ in Brian’s hand, as blood steadily dripped onto the floor of the ship.

“Hey, guys, are we good?” Sung asked from the front, then turned his head. He paused and looked at the heart. Then at Brian. Then at Danny. Back to the heart.

“Holy shit, dude.”


	7. Epilogue

There wasn’t much to do while the others were gone, mostly because Meouch didn’t want to go wandering around a new planet without someone who knew their way around. So, for the time being, he decided to occupy his time with Danny’s bass. It was a lefty bass, so it would at least take a decent chunk of time for him to master.

He was plugging away at some messy scales while Phobos napped on the couch adjacent to him. The Commander was more than a little startled when Phobos suddenly jumped up into a sitting position.

“Wh… hey, man,” Meouch said. “You good?”

Phobos nodded. His trembling body said otherwise.

“Nightmare?”

Another, smaller nod. Meouch felt an ache in his chest.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he mumbled. “Just, uh… go back to sleep, alright? You’re fine. I’ll be here if you wake up again.”

It took a while for Phobos to settle down after that-- more than enough time for Meouch to wallow in his guilt. But just when he was sure Phobos was sound asleep, he heard the front door open.

Danny was the first to enter, and he looked… sickly. Like he’d just been crying. Brian came next, and was quick to usher him past the living room and down the hall. Doctor Sung was the last to enter, and he just looked outright exhausted. He closed the door behind him before he walked over and flopped down in the seat beside Meouch.

“The fuck happened to you guys?” Meouch asked, his voice low so as not to wake Phobos.

Sung let out a sigh. “Just… do me a favor and don’t fuck around with time travel, okay?”

Meouch furrowed his brow. “Wasn’t plannin’ on it.”

“Good.” Sung paused to look at Phobos. “How are you two doing?”

“We’re… okay.” Meouch nodded. “I think. It’s… probably gonna take some time. For the both of us.”

“That’s understandable,” Sung replied. “Just... know that my offer still stands.”

Meouch scoffed before he shifted his attention back to the bass. “Yeah. We’re not quite there yet, Doc, but thanks.”

Sung was about to make his counterpoint when Danny reentered the room. He still looked like a mess, maybe even more so than he had just moments before. “Doctor Sung, can I... speak with you for a moment?” he asked, his voice just barely above a whisper.

“Oh? Yeah, uh... yeah, of course.” Sung turned to Meouch as he stood. “I’ll be back.”

“Take your time,” Meouch muttered, already back to running through his scales.

Danny led Sung into his room and closed the door behind them. He kept his gaze centered on the floor as he leaned back against the doorframe, but Sung could still see tears forming in his eyes. Danny opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if he had something to say, but nothing would come out.

Sung quickly realized that it was on him to speak first. But before he did, he removed his helmet and set it aside. There was no point in keeping it on anymore, after all. “I’m… sorry you had to see that, Danny,” he said.

Danny shook his head. “I-I’m just so… confused?” He finally lifted his head as the tears began to fall. “I don’t… I don’t even know what to say. Brian won’t talk to me.”

The doctor sighed. “Well, keep in mind, he _did_ just… rip his future self’s heart out,” he said. “That’ll fuck anyone up.”

“Exactly!” Danny put his head in his hands, and let out an exasperated groan as he let himself sink to the floor. “He doesn’t… he doesn’t talk about _anything._ He’s just gonna hole himself up in his room and ignore everyone until he represses it and moves on!”

A pang of guilt hit Sung’s chest after that last comment. He winced. “I… I understand why that’s frustrating,” he said, “That’s definitely not good for him. But in the end, it’s really up to him to realize that and make his own choices.” He crouched down in front of Danny and rested a hand on his shoulder. “And the same goes for you.”

At first, Danny’s only reply was a solemn nod. He was staring at the floor again. Thinking. He wasn’t sure when Sung had started rubbing circles in his back, but he wasn’t going to complain.

“What’s on your mind?” Sung asked, and Danny couldn’t help but wonder why an actual mind reader would ask a question like that.

And then, it hit him.

“That… that thing you did to Lord Phobos,” Danny began, “To make him forget.”

Sung raised his eyebrows. “Yeah?”

Danny lifted his head to look right into the doctor’s eyes, which at some point had faded into a jarring orange. “Does it hurt?”


End file.
